Power UnChecked Is Power Abused | Block O’Toole & Murphy
Video Transcript: Hear From Our Lawyers, Clients, and Referring Attorneys
Host:
America was created by people who understood that power unchecked is power abused. That’s why we have a separation of powers, the Bill of Rights, and the right to your day in court. The law firm of Block O’Toole & Murphy makes it possible for the average American to have their day in court, by taking on cases to fight for hardworking people, including construction workers, laborers, electricians, carpenters, police officers, firefighters, and everyday Americans (including the New York City fire, police and sanitation workers).
Block O’Toole & Murphy’s lawyers believe their responsibilities do not end when they have settled a case or gotten a verdict in favor of their clients. As champions of justice, they need to do whatever they can to prevent future injuries. Individuals and businesses that harm people deliberately or through negligence need to take responsibility for their actions. As advocates for injured people, Block O’Toole & Murphy does what it can to make the world safer.
When they see injustice, when they see companies that choose greed over safety, they fight back in the courtroom and they also work to change the laws. Today, The Insider Exclusive takes an inside look at one of New York’s premier law firms, Block O’Toole & Murphy, and their outstanding record for seeking justice for their clients as we examine some of their multi-million dollar record verdicts and settlements.
[When] Block O’Toole & Murphy take on a case, their first priority is to bring it across the finish line for their client by thoroughly preparing for all cases and using their extensive knowledge of the legal issues. Block O’Toole & Murphy is ready to get the client what they deserve. Block O’Toole & Murphy is proud of their legacy of excellence – representing ordinary people who may have limited or no financial means to devote to the cost of litigation. I am Steve Murphy, and this is The Insider Exclusive live from New York City, at the law firm of Block O’Toole & Murphy. It gives me great pleasure to introduce two of the partners, Jeff Block and Dan O’Toole. Welcome to the show Dan.
Daniel O’Toole:
Thank you, Steve.
Jeffrey Block:
Thank you, Steve.
Host:
Welcome to the show, Jeff. Your firm handles a lot of different practice areas. One of them, of course, is construction litigation. Tell us a little bit about the practice of helping folks that have been injured in job-related [accidents].
Daniel O’Toole:
Construction workers and construction law is one of the cornerstones of the firm. And it’s absolutely essential to have the right team working for you if you’re hurt in one of these accidents. We’ve taken a long time to put together the best and the brightest team we could possibly put together in the city of New York. And we’re very blessed to have extremely well-qualified and bright young attorneys and some of us more senior who were able to help our workers.
Host:
Your law firm takes cases on a contingency basis. In other words, a lot of people come to you that are injured. You look at the case, you decide whether you want to take it. How do you choose the cases that you decide eventually to represent?
Jeffrey Block:
We choose them very carefully. We do is a great deal of underwriting. And we look at the facts of the case, whether the intake comes from a client coming into the office [themself], through another client, or through an existing law firm (other lawyers in our industry who refer the case to us to handle the trial). We look at every factor of the case. We interview the clients exceptionally thoroughly, and then we round table the cases to see if it’s a case that we can help the individual achieve the right end result.
Charities We Support
Host:
Besides practicing law, you’re very much involved with the community. Who does your law firm actually get involved with in representing for charitable causes and that sort of thing?
Daniel O’Toole:
All of us come to this moment with experiences, and some of us have been touched with unfortunate tragedies involving sick children. So, we’ve taken that upon ourselves at the firm to try and help folks that are sick and the families of those who are sick. St. Jude is one of our favorite charities. There’s also another charity in New York called The Frances Pope Memorial Fund, which we help every year. And the sole aim of those two charities is to help children that are sick with cancer and to help their families, because behind every sick child is two parents and a whole family that’s impacted, and they have to put aside their whole life to try and concentrate on getting their kid as well as they can.
Case Examples: $14 Million, $9.7 Million, and $9.3 Million Recoveries
Host:
What do you think are the main ingredients for your winning success? There’s a lot of trial lawyers that you can choose from all around the country, especially here in New York City. Why do you guys win so well?
Jeffrey Block:
I would have to say it’s the preparation and we won’t be out thought or out fought on any case. We spend the time of communicating internally with the 12 lawyers that we have on staff and coming to the right conclusion on each of these cases.
Host:
Let’s discuss some of those cases because they’re pretty remarkable. One of them was a $14 million –was it settlement, verdict?
Daniel O’Toole:
That was a verdict. Jeff Block and I actually tried that verdict in Nassau County. It was interesting as we were waiting to start jury selection on that case, an old timer from the venue said to me, “Dan, let me tell you two things you can’t do in Nassau County: one, you can’t win a motorcycle case and two, you can’t win a motorcycle case.”
Host:
And why is that?
Daniel O’Toole:
Because the thought was that there’s a prejudice against those type of individuals in Nassau County, a conservative venue. And as we try to do on every case, we tried to have the jury look at our clients as individuals, as human beings and give them a fair shake. And I’m happy to say for our clients, we will get that fair shake for him.
Host:
Another case was a $9.7 million verdict against a brain surgeon. What was that case all about?
Jeffrey Block:
That case was involving a brain surgeon who went in and operated on a nerve causing our client to ultimately lose his vision. And at the time Dan – my partner, Daniel Toole – handled the first part of that case, settled it against the operating surgeon and the case proceeded against a secondary surgeon who was supervising the operating room. The case was managed by Joe Donahue, one of our senior associates. He took a $9.8 million verdict on the case and called me up that day and said, “Boss, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I took a $9.8 million verdict. And the bad news is that I shamed you at $9.3 million verdict earlier in the week on another matter.”
Host:
That’s not bad. And let’s talk about that. That $9.3 million was a back injury case.
Jeffrey Block:
That’s correct. I tried the case in Kings County, in Brooklyn. It was an automobile accident involving a 62-year-old banquet waiter who worked at Tavern on the Green. And of course, with 62-year-olds, we would expect to see a significant amount of pre-existing degenerative disease in the lower back and the spine, which he evidenced. The defense was that all of his injuries were pre-existing and degenerative. The jury didn’t quite buy that or believe it. And they did the right thing. They came back and awarded a verdict to take care of our client – the plaintiff – for his future medical needs, which were significant, and his past and future pain and suffering.
Host:
I’m going to bring on one of your other name partners, Stephen Murphy right now, so that we can talk a little bit more about your firm.
Types of Cases and More Case Examples: $32 Million and $8 Million Jury Verdicts
Host:
It gives me great pleasure to introduce one of the other partners at the firm, Stephen Murphy.
Stephen Murphy:
Great to see you.
Host:
What a great name. Talk to us a little bit about some of the other practice areas that your firm covers, like motorcycle accidents.
Stephen Murphy:
We handle motorcycle accidents quite a bit, and it’s something that’s a natural fit for the firm because of the perils that are so often associated with people riding motorcycles. We only take very significant cases. And unfortunately, for operators of motorcycles, when they’re involved in collisions or accidents, they’re a great risk. And often tragically, those cases are associated with very, very severe injuries.
Host:
Dan, you had mentioned, there are certain areas in New York where motorcycle accidents aren’t necessarily the best thing to try in those areas, right?
Daniel O’Toole:
Well, like there is prejudice on any number of different issues, there is a thought that juries just don’t like these cases and that can very well be the case. And like any other problem, we find the best way to solve any problem is to hit it head on, address it with the jury at the outset, and don’t be afraid of your weaknesses. Don’t hope for the best, let’s prepare for the worst. Let’s try our case thoroughly, right from the get-go and confront any weaknesses that we might have.
Host:
What about wrongful death cases? You handle a lot of them.
Daniel O’Toole:
We handle quite unfortunately too many, and it’s a terribly challenging thing to have to deal with a mourning family. And the challenge that we face is sometimes compounded by the difficultness of the loss surrounding wrongful death. In the state of New York, unfortunately there’s no such thing as pain and suffering for the survivors. No broken heart damages. And just to explain that as a threshold matter to the clients is challenging. And Stephen and I’ve made [it a] priority of the firm [to] lobby in the state of New York on an annual basis to try and change the law concerning wrongful death in the state of New York.
But we’ve tried quite a number of wrongful death cases. And I must tell you, it’s an honor to be invited into the lives of these families that survive and to try and give voice to the person they lost.
Host:
Both of you practice as contingency lawyers. You take cases, [and] you don’t ask the client to pay any money. If you don’t win, you don’t make any money. How do you choose these cases because that’s a tremendous risk, isn’t it?
Stephen Murphy:
You’ve got to be selective. And that’s what we are. We want to take cases where we’re helping people who need it. They’re the persons that are really seriously injured. They’re good people. They need our help. And that’s usually the criteria that we use to evaluate cases. We accept very few of the cases that come into our office, but we want to do right by those cases. We keep the number of cases in our firm to a low number, so we can give them the time and the attention that they richly deserve.
Host:
One of those cases, speaking of which, was a $32 million verdict that you got for one of your clients. Tell us a little bit about that.
Stephen Murphy:
One of the most important cases for the firm, because it really fit the bill for what we are as a firm. It’s the fight that we waged for a very, very severely injured man. And it was for him and for his family – Jimmy Dunne was the name of the client and his family, Carol Dunne, Brian Dunne, Jason Dunne. They have become part of the fabric of this firm and part of our family. And it was a case that was tried in Suffolk county and a jury, thankfully, was there for the Dunne family and gave them some of their life back. They have now freedom to take care of Jimmy in a way that they would never have had but for this case.
Host:
Another case was a $8 million case for recovery for a rock band member. What was that all about?
Daniel O’Toole:
It was an unfortunate accident happened upstate New York on a highway where our client was in a van with his other band members. And they were struck by a tractor trailer, catastrophic injuries for a number of the fellows involved. I represented a guy named Eric who was a young, talented musician at the time, and he sustained very serious injuries to his back and [these injuries] impacted not only his ability to play music, but his ability to live his life. And I remember one of the things that touched me the most, and I think ultimately touch the jury the most was his inability to play with his young son.
[His son] was two years old at the time of the trial. And I remember Eric telling me the pain that it caused him in his heart. That the first time he saw his son making a snowman or playing in the snow. He was looking through a window at his house, watching this take place as his son played with his uncle rather than with his father. And that’s the type of way we try to look at these cases. Let’s find a common bond between us and the jury, and let’s connect as human beings. And I don’t care who you are, when you hear that story, it’s moving because something that connects us all is our love for our children and our desire to be with them during significant times in their life.
Hear From Two Attorneys That Refer Cases to Block O’Toole & Murphy
Host:
You have a lot of lawyers that refer cases to your firm. We have two of them here today. One of them is Javier Solano, and another one is Tim Sullivan, and we’re going to have them on the show right now. And they’re going to tell us why they refer cases to you guys. It gives me great pleasure to introduce two attorneys that are not with Block O’Toole, but refer cases to them. Tim Sullivan is one of them as well as Javier Solano. Welcome to the show, Tim.
Tim Sullivan:
Thank you very much for having me.
Host:
Welcome to the show Javier.
Javier Solano:
Thank you.
Host:
You referred the Jimmy Dunne case, which was a big verdict ($32 million), to Block O’Toole & Murphy. Why?
Tim Sullivan:
We needed them really to come into that case because we wanted to make sure that Jimmy Dunne was taken care of. He’s the guy that needed to be taken care of for what happened to him. His injuries were extremely serious. There was a huge amount of insurance coverage, and I knew that Block O’Toole & Murphy would get every dime of it, and that’s why.
Host:
They go the distance. They take whatever’s necessary to do.
Tim Sullivan:
They do. I spoke to the Dunne family and said, “We’re going to bring in these guys. They’re another weapon that we have on these types of cases.” And it worked out terrifically.
Host:
Now Javier, you’re a criminal defense attorney.
Javier Solano:
Yes.
Host:
What kind of cases do you generally refer to this firm?
Javier Solano:
I refer to the firm catastrophic personal injury cases. They’re not, in my estimation, a small-time tort or a negligence firm. It’s really bigger, more serious cases. For me, I have two offices. One of them is in the Bronx. It’s important for me to have the right representation from the people in the community – in my community – instead of just taking it to attorneys that just see a number and try to get as little as possible just to get the case done. They really care about their clients. Those clients are my clients. My reputation is on the line as well. And so, I want to make sure that they’re taken care of first and foremost as human beings, as clients. And then secondly, to make sure that they get every single amount of money and care and coverage as possible.
Host:
Well, I really appreciate you taking the time, both of you, to be on the show today because your actions speak louder than any words could possibly say. And the results for your clients ended up extremely well. And thank you very much for being on the show.
Tim Sullivan:
Thanks for having us.
Host:
And thank you very much, Javier.
Javier Solano:
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Client Ryan and Handling Attorney Joseph Donahue
Host:
It gives me great pleasure to introduce another lawyer at the firm, Joseph Donahue, and his client, Ryan. Welcome to the show, Joe.
Joseph Donahue:
Thank you.
Host:
And welcome Ryan.
Ryan:
Thank you.
Host:
Tell us a little bit about his case.
Joseph Donahue:
Ryan came to us as a result of an accident that took place at a construction site here in New York, in Queens. Ryan was working as a carpenter at the construction of a high-rise building, and Ryan’s job at the construction site was to work the saw. It was a table saw, and he was responsible for cutting wood forms, which are pieces of wood that are used to actually build the structure itself. While Ryan was working on the saw, unfortunately, Ryan had an accident where his left hand was cut with the saw amputating parts of two of his fingers. Now, when Ryan came to us, one of the first things we did was look at the saw that Ryan was working on at the time of the accident. And one of the things that first struck us was that there was safety equipment that should’ve been on that saw that would have prevented Ryan’s injuries, but unfortunately the people responsible at the site (the general contractors and the owners), failed to provide Ryan with the basic safety equipment that would have prevented his accident from ever happening.
Host:
Now from the contractor’s viewpoint, he sees you’re injured. How do you prevent him from not providing you that same saw? I mean, he could hide it. He could put the safety features on it that weren’t there. How quickly do you act on something like that?
Joseph Donahue:
You have to act immediately. Because when an accident happens at a construction site, everybody starts to work to cover themselves from responsibility. It’s important to get to the accident scene or get access to the scene as quickly as possible. Make sure that you photograph and document evidence as best as possible. So you can use later on to show that the contractors and the owners – the people who were in a position to keep workers safe – failed to live up to the responsibilities.
Host:
You remember that day quite well. Don’t you?
Ryan:
Absolutely.
Host:
And what did you do immediately when you were injured?
Ryan:
First thing I did was wrap my hands with the handkerchief I had in my back pocket.
Host:
Yeah.
Ryan:
And then I proceeded over to try to find my foreman to let them know to call an ambulance or call somebody just because I’ve been injured on the saw.
Host:
Yeah.
Ryan:
I found him. He brought me into a trailer. We spoke to the safety supervisor, called an ambulance, and an ambulance was on its way.
Host:
And then when did you enter the case?
Joseph Donahue:
A lawyer that was representing Ryan asked us to assist him in the handling of the case because of the severe injuries and the complex nature of the liability of the case. That attorney asked us to come in and assist in the representation of Ryan and to get the case ready, not only for the discovery process, but the trial itself.
Host:
How long did the case take to resolve itself?
Joseph Donahue:
The case took upwards of three years, which is about the average time that a construction case here in New York takes from the time of the accident up until whether you have a resolution prior to trial or you go to trial and resolve the [case].
Host:
The posture of the contractor or the insurance company was [that] it was all your fault. Right? Right. And how do you get around that? By documenting the safety features that aren’t there?
Joseph Donahue:
Absolutely. One of the things that’s really vital – what we did in this case – is we want to explain to the jury that the person or the persons in the best position to protect workers at the site isn’t the guy or the gal that’s coming to the site every day to do their job. It’s the person who controls the site. But unfortunately, in Ryan’s case, the safety equipment wasn’t provided. The argument we made to the jury was [that] it’s not provided because not having safety equipment on the saw allowed [Ryan] to make cuts faster and work faster. And that’s the reason that the safety devices that were readily available to the contractors weren’t put on the saws themselves. So it’s important that we let the jury understand that there’s a reason for which that they’re not putting these safety devices in place. They have their workers doing the work faster.
Host:
What was the ultimate result of the case?
Joseph Donahue:
The ultimate result of the case was: after we had presented the liability portion of the case, the carrier decided that the risks were too great, and they resolved the case with us.
Host:
Good. That’s good. Well, I’m glad that it worked out as well as it possibly could for you. I keep hearing this underlying thing that you initially went to another lawyer.
Ryan:
Yes.
Host:
That lawyer referred you to this law firm.
Ryan:
Yes.
Host:
Because they know that they go the distance, and they get the best results. And obviously as a client, if you knew of a friend or anybody else that was in a difficult situation, construction accident, what would you say to them about getting a new attorney?
Ryan:
Oh, I would definitely recommend this firm. They exceeded every expectation I ever had of them. They were just unbelievable.
Host:
Well, that separates you from a lot of other law firms and I want to thank you for coming on the show, Ryan.
Ryan:
Thank you.
Host:
And thank you.
Joseph Donahue:
Thank you.
Client Agron and Handling Attorney Daniel O’Toole
Host:
It gives me great pleasure to welcome back Dan O’Toole and his client Agron. Welcome to the show, Agron.
Agron:
Thank you.
Host:
And welcome back Dan.
Daniel O’Toole:
Thank you, Steve.
Host:
You represented Agron in a case. Tell us a little bit about it.
Daniel O’Toole:
We should start by saying thank God Agron’s with us today because he could have very easily been killed in this accident. He was a superintendent at a building on the Upper West Side of New York City. And some work was being performed on the outside of the building. Agron was going to check on it. They were re-pointing the bricks on the building. And while they were hoisting up some of the bricks, one of the bricks unfortunately fell off the building and struck Agron just below his eye.
Host:
Wow. That must’ve been quite a day for you. Wasn’t it?
Agron:
Actually, it was a very terrible, terrible year for myself. And two weeks after that, my brother passed away. And if it wasn’t for Daniel and Jeff, it was very difficult for me to carry on.
Host:
Yes.
Agron:
They helped me a lot with encouraging me.
Host:
Yeah. I hear that time and time again, not only are they very good lawyers, but also they care about their clients. Don’t they?
Agron:
They care a lot about their clients. And again, I want to say that I would really like to thank Daniel for all his encouragement and help through that case. Because as I said, it was very devastating and frustrating for me. I was going crazy, in one word. Mentally, it was let alone, physically, as he said, thank God that I’m alive today. But, mentally, it was a big burden on me. And it was very frustrating.
Host:
Frustrating that you couldn’t work?
Agron:
I couldn’t work. I was very nervous. I couldn’t stand anyone. I couldn’t talk to my family. I started getting away from my family, and [Dan and Jeff] helped me a lot.
Host:
Well, thank God you’re here. What was the end result of the case, Dan?
Daniel O’Toole:
The matter was tried to verdict, a successful verdict. Myself and Jeff Block tried the case and the verdict, I think, was $3.4 million. It was a very good verdict, but Agron really is quite typical of folks that have had head injuries. People look at a cat scan and say, “Oh, well, that’s the outcome of that injury?” Well, it goes well beyond what you see in a cat scan. There’s a whole host of emotional challenges that face people that have had head injuries. And it requires the right type of doctors and right type of lawyers to be patient and to talk through these problems, not just to your client, but to the family as well, so they can understand what’s going on.
Host:
Well, thank God you had him as a lawyer. It worked out well for you. And how did you find him, by the way, originally?
Agron:
He was referred by a family friend.
Host:
Yeah.
Agron:
And I’ve been happy to be introduced to him.
Host:
Yeah. I hear that time and time again, people refer (and other lawyers especially) [cases to Block O’Toole & Murphy], and that’s good. Thank you very much for being on the program.
Agron:
Thank you for having me.
What Makes Block O’Toole & Murphy Different From Other Law Firms
Host:
And thank you. I want to welcome back Stephen Murphy on the show. Dan.
[shakes hand]
Daniel O’Toole:
Steven, great to be here.
Host:
And Stephen.
[shakes hand]
I shake your hands because I’ve heard the clients. Other lawyers refer cases to you. I’ve listened to what [your clients] say. They couldn’t be happier. You’re part of their family. Tell us your philosophy of your entire firm, why you exist.
Daniel O’Toole:
I’ll tell you the one thing I think that sets us apart from a lot of other firms is that we really see the beauty in each one of our clients. And we don’t just handle a case and say, “Okay, it’s a tractor trailer case, a med mal case,” [and] put it through a certain cookie cutter treatment. That’s not the way it is. At the heart and soul of our firm, we really do care. We really want to know what it is that made one particular client a unique person, and what mattered the most of them in their lives. So that we can speak to the jury at the end of the day, about what hurts them the most in terms of what they’ve lost.
Host:
Right. And you obviously think the same way.
Stephen Murphy:
I do. And I think there are parts of our firm that are different or unique from other practices. We are a group of lawyers that genuinely like each other. We like working together. We love coming to work. We like to win like anyone does, but we do it the right way. We don’t take shortcuts. We fight as hard as anyone, but we practice law the way it should be practiced. The right way.
Host:
One of the things I like about your firm is when you say you take on the most difficult cases, you win a lot too. Don’t you?
Stephen Murphy:
I guess the answer to that is yes, but it’s not something that comes easy. It comes with a lot of hard work, and it really is about learning who your clients are and what makes them tick and what they care about. And if you can convey that to a jury, they can see you care. And if they like you, they see you care and you’re passionate about your work. And most importantly, [if] they like your clients, then they’re going to be there to help them.
Host:
Well, I’m glad we were here today because more lawyers and more people ought to know about you. And I want to thank you very much for taking the time.
Stephen Murphy:
Appreciate your time.
Daniel O’Toole:
Thank you, Steve. Appreciate it.